Ontwerpen voor elektrische hanglampen c. 1905

Carel Adolph Lion Cachet made these designs for electric pendant lamps using pencil on paper. The lamps float on the page, these light touches are the real find here. The artist is thinking through form, line and structure as he visualises these objects. I find myself looking at the shapes between the lines, too. The shaded section on the center-left lamp is suggestive, but not labored. These lamps, they’re like geometric jewels, suspended in mid-air. I can see how these studies relate to the work of someone like Josef Albers. Both were interested in how art could function as design, both saw the potential of abstraction and clean lines, though Cachet’s lamps feel so much more personal, more human. What’s so great about art is this ongoing conversation, this way of thinking about things, about use, about beauty that keeps going.